The man presumed dead following a tragic kayaking accident near North Platte has been identified as 20-year-old Samson Charles Bidan.

Bidan, who is from Tanzania, was kayaking with two other people on Monday night when he and a female were pulled into a Western Engineering sand pit, just east of North Platte, through a breach in the dike.  Sheriff Jerome Kramer says, during the 2011 floods, the United States Army Corps of Engineers forced Western to breach the dike between their sandpit and the North Platte River, so water could flow through the north end of the pit and out the south end of the pit.  This created a tragic scenario when Bidan and his companions got to close to the breach.

Kramer said the sand pit is 50 to 80 feet deep, compared to the three-foot depth of the river.  He said there is also a large amount of quick sand, and they fear that Bidan could possibly be covered with sand.

Witnesses say they saw Bidan flailing and asking for help, but they were unable to get him out.  The female was rescued, but Bidan has not been seen since.

Law enforcement, the Lincoln County Dive Team and the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission have all been involved in the recovery effort but, so far, they have not been able to locate Bidan’s body.  The effort has been hindered debris floating through the pit.  Kramer said it has made it difficult for Game and Parks sonar equipment to get good images underneath the surface of the water.

Western Engineering employees spent the afternoon blocking the breach, hoping that stopping the flow of water will decrease the amount of debris in the water and allow the water level to normalize.  In the meantime, search boats and divers have continued searching for Bidan.  Kramer says they are aware of the area where he went into the water, so they have been searching that area extensively.

Bidan, who is seven feet tall, was slated to play basketball for Coach Kevin O’Connor and the Nort Platte Community College men’s basketball team. Dr. Jody Tomanek, Vice-President of North Platte Community College, said, “This is a sad and tragic day for NPCC and the Knight’s athletic program.  In the short time Samson was with the College, he made a huge impact on the students, faculty, and staff.  Samson always had a smile on his face and he will be greatly missed.”

As 7:00 p.m., on Tuesday, Bidan has not been located.

Listen to our interview with Sheriff Kramer.

Authorities say they will resume their recovery effort for a man who is believed to have drowned in a sand pit near the North Platte River on Monday evening.

According to the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, it was reported to the North Platte 911 Center just before 7:30 p.m. that a kayaker was missing in a sandpit near the Highway 30 bridge just east of North Platte.

The man was reportedly kayaking with several other people when he and a female were pulled into a sand pit, due to strong currents, and tipped.  Another kayaker was able to rescue the female, but they were unable to get the man out of the water.

Along with the LCSO, the Lincoln County Dive Team was also called to the scene, but they were unable to find the missing man.

Officials say they are now officially considering this a recovery mission, and the man is presumed to have drowned.

The search will resume this morning.  The Nebraska Game and Parks will bring in sonar equipment to assist law enforcement and the Lincoln County Dive Team.

The man’s identity has not been released.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Corn and soybean crops in Iowa and Nebraska continue to make good progress and plant development remains ahead of the five-year average for this point in the growing season.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s weekly crop update says corn in Iowa and Nebraska is rated at nearly 80 percent good to excellent while soybeans are around 78 percent good to excellent.

Storms last week brought rain to both states missing south-central and southeast Iowa and leaving western and southwestern Nebraska without much new moisture.

Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey says some Iowa farmers have reported isolated crop damage from high wind.

Nebraska farmers reported high wind knocked some corn plants over and snapped off some stalks in a number of eastern counties.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A third travel-related case of the Zika virus has bene confirmed in Nebraska.

The state Department of Health and Human Services said Monday that all the cases in Nebraska involve women in their 20s who traveled to Zika-affected countries.

The new case is a woman from Douglas County. The previous cases reported in February were women from Douglas and Sarpy counties.

None of the three women was hospitalized.

The Zika outbreak has mainly hit Latin America and the Caribbean. The virus is mainly transmitted by mosquito.

While most people infected with the virus do not get sick, health officials are investigating whether there is a link between Zika infections in pregnant women and a rare birth defect in which babies are born with abnormally small heads.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska is exploring the processing of agricultural waste into a coal-like substance that would be used as a renewable fuel.

The state awarded a Mexico, Missouri, company a grant of more than $250,000. The company, Enginuity Worldwide, says it can compress cow manure, spent cornstalks and other plant material into what it calls BioCoal. The company says the product burns like regular coal and could help power plants cut carbon emissions if the plants were to replace some of its coal with BioCoal.

Enginuity President Nancy Heimann says that burning the product would release no more carbon than if the plant material it’s made from were to decompose in a field.